Cybertron Skywarp

Series: Cybertron
Allegiance: Decepticon
Categories: Deluxe
Year: 2006

The sneakiest of all Decepticons, Skywarp delights in using his teleportation ability to appear in the middle of a group of Autobots, hose them with laser fire, and disappear again. He is the dark heart of the Decepticon Air Corps, taking joy in playing cruel tricks on friend and enemy alike and using his aerial abilities to avoid a fair fight whenever possible. None too bright, he requires constant supervision by his commander Starscream.

Robot Mode: Skywarp looks pretty spiffy in robot mode. I especially like the head sculpt, it looks very good. Unfortunately once you take a closer look at the design you notice quite a few problems. The big cannon that makes up his left arm is attached to a very screwy elbow-joint, making it look silly in lots of poses. Also, the shoulder barely holds onto the upper torse, getting loose every other moment. Skywarp also has very, very tiny feet, making him a bit unstable. The Cyberkey gimmick that makes the cannon flip up is really for the jet mode, using it in robot mode just looks silly. Bottom line, the robot looks great on first glance, but has a lot of problems once you really look.

Alternate Mode: Unlike the robot mode there is very little wrong with the jet mode. The jet looks great, all the parts fit together well, and the whole thing has a solid feel to it. The jet has a working landing gear and the missiles under the wings are well-sculpted, though not detachable. Here's also where the Cyberkey gimmick comes into play, making his big cannon flip up from the back of the jet. Not the best gimmick ever, but workable. The jet mode is definitely the better of Skywarp's modes.

Remarks: Skywarp is a recolour of Thundercracker (though neither is a repaint of Starscream in this series). He is actually purple, though the pictures came out more blue than anything else. Anyway, Skywarp is a great jet and a good-looking robot, but design-wise he has a lot of problems that make me dislike the figure somewhat. I think with a little more effort put in you could have made him a much better toy. Better fit for the shoulders, a detachable cannon on the arm instead of it being the arm, bigger feet, and you'd have had a very good Skywarp. As it is I can only call him the bad side of average.

Rating: C-